Watch & Listen

Cement Stars

Cement Stars creates a unique aural experience with familiar components, drawing influence from different genres, eras and musical styles. While Cement Stars saw its beginnings as a lo-fi bedroom recording project between the Chicago-born, Charlotte-based fraternal duo of Shaun and Bryan Olson in the fall of 2006, the band has recently expanded to a 5-piece.

Human Pippi Armstrong

Lurking in the shadows of Charlotte’s underground music scene is a sound so wonderfully dark and unique that it could only be described as...Pippi?! While the name may not initially convey a clear style, rest assured Human Pippi Armstrong’s music is an original and stylistic sound that leaves a strong impression.
Human Pippi Armstrong is a “one-man force” created 11 years ago by Nathan Hemphill. Hemphill’s music is self-described as “generally danceable and melodic” created through the “powerful square-wavesound” of his Kawai K1m Midi Module. Hemphill also uses a Boss SP-303 sampler to loop tracks while he plays lead and sings.

Hemphill describes his live shows as “Madness! I fear the floors willcollapse at times! I feed off my crowd, so if there happens to be a night where everyone’s tired, then I'm just extra angry at them and will make vulgar gestures at the men and women until I get them on board.”

His lyrics, dark and cerebral, are often centered around death. His song “Homeplate of the Light” was written about the murder of James Jordan, the father of basketball legend Michael Jordan. “I find the morbid things in life the most real and impacting parts of it” says Hemphill.

In his eleven years as performing as Human Pippi Armstrong, Hemphill has opened for such acts as, Odd Nosdam, Lightning Bolt, Thee MoreShallows, Baths, Future Islands among many others. He also toured with Tim and Eric Awesome Show's David Liebe Hart.